Monthly Bulletin
June 2023
NEWS, INITIATIVES, AND EVENTS
Spring Garden Party
Our Spring Garden Party returned to Bow River Lodge to celebrate seniors on June 10, 2023! This year marked a well-attended return to pre-pandemic partying. Approximately 150 participants gathered to recognize our seniors, and enjoy fun activities, yummy treats, a popular petting zoo, and a great band. We also held several tours of the first floor of the new wing for the many who were eager to check it out!
Designated Supportive Living (DSL) Operations
We remain proud and excited to welcome DSL residents into the new wing at Bow River Lodge. The program brings public DSL care to the region for the first time and will help keep seniors close to their loved ones and supports in the community for longer. We expect up to 30 former residents of the region who left to access this level of care will return to live at Bow River Lodge! Many regional residents have moved into the facility, which is now about half full and admissions continue.
We thank the Government of Alberta, Alberta Seniors, Community and Social Supports, Alberta Health, Alberta Health Services, and SE Health for helping us establish and operate this important facility for the Bow Valley region.
Our DSL Hair Salon has opened to quite a buzz; long-time hairstylist and barber Fidal is fitting in nicely!
PROGRAM OCCUPANCY RATES
Bow River Lodge – NSL 89%
Bow River Lodge – DSL 48%
Cascade House 84%
Bow River Homes 100%
Mount Edith House 100%
Community Housing 100%
Rent Supplement 100%
SPECIAL PROJECTS
This is Home (Phase 3+)
We have submitted a draft business case to Alberta Seniors, Community, and Social Supports for our Phase 3+ Projects. These projects, if approved, would refresh much of our Community and Seniors’ Independent Housing stock while adding different types and affordability levels of housing to the region in Canmore and perhaps elsewhere. We hope that the GOA will appreciate and be able to approve the opportunity here and that we will be able to collaborate with them, the Town of Canmore, and ideally other Housing Agencies to address some of the housing crisis in the Bow Valley.
RESOURCES
• In an emergency, please dial 911.
• For 24/7 nurse advice and general health information for Albertans information on diseases, treatments, staying well, and healthcare services dial 811.
• For 24/7 community program & service information, including affordability programming in the Bow Valley dial 211.
ABOUT BOW VALLEY REGIONAL HOUSING
Bow Valley Regional Housing (BVRH) is a Housing Management Body (HMB) serving the Government of Alberta and the Bow Valley Region. HMB operational funding sources vary. Tenants pay accommodation fees. Those fees are subject to affordability limits, which prevent them from fully covering the costs of operations. Provincial grants and municipal ratepayer requisitions subsidize seniors lodge deficits, while the province also subsidizes deficits in independent seniors and community housing.
As the HMB for the Bow Valley region, BVRH is responsible for social housing, as well as affordable supportive living accommodation for seniors throughout Kananaskis Country, the Bow Corridor, the MD of Bighorn, and all of Banff National Park, an area covering about 13,500 square kilometers.
All told, we currently house, or help to house approximately 500 residents of the Bow Valley in eight permanent housing projects encompassing 33 separate buildings.
